How many people are scared there dog or cat is going to be eaten when it gets let out side? This never used to be a problem. Now that cities and towns are taking away all of the natural habitat for wild animals we have began to see bears and coyotes along with other carnivorous animals  in our own back yards. Our small animals are not the only ones in danger, humans are too. These wild animals will do anything to get there next meal, even if it’s a small child. Most people think that this is the animals fault, and I disagree with that. I think that this is the fault of humans for taking away the natural habitat for these animals. If we weren’t taking there land away and building office building or apartments the animals wouldn’t be so close. These animals are going to take advantage of an easy meal, if it trash or our pets.

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/problems/bears/

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-12/why-wild-animals-are-moving-cities-and-what-do-about-it

http://www.mspca.org/programs/wildlife-resources/species-information/coyote/co-existing-with-coyotes.html

Science does make drugs very expensive, due to the need of the technology, and the need of an answer quickly. Scientists make drugs “expensive because the science of drug discovery is hard. And it’s just getting harder. In fact purely on a scientific level, taking a drug all the way from initial discovery to market is considered harder than putting a man on the moon“(Jogalekar). When new drugs come out they have to go through a lot of trial testing which costs money. It can take 7 to 10 years and over  500 million dollars to develop each new drug (Ogbru). They have to do trials on animals and on humans to make sure he drug is safe for the public to use and all this cost money (Simpson). But that is not always the case “Prices are set and raised according to what the market will bear, and the parties who actually pay the drug companies will meet whatever price is charged for an effective drug to which there is no alternative”(Werth). Some drug company’s hike up the prices of medication due to so many people needing a certain medication. You will pay what ever it takes to make yourself healthy, and drug company’s know this and will make the medication more expensive just so they can make a profit off of the people . 

Getting addicted to prescription drugs is a serious issue. “Research shows that combining addiction-treatment medications, where available, with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches tailored to address each patient’s drug abuse patterns and co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse. It is important to remember, however, that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease – like diabetes, asthma, or heart disease – that can be managed successfully”(HBO addiction project). Drug addiction runs your life because it “is a chronic, relapsing disease that affects the brain and causes compulsive drug craving, seeking, and use despite harmful and often devastating consequences”(HBO Addiction Project) to the users body and mind. This can happen to anyone, on purpose or by mistake. You may think you can get better with out treatment but that is not the case. Many people need to hear the horror stories of others to make them selves realize how bad being addicted to prescription drugs really is. Not many people know  that “Abuse of prescription drugs can be even riskier than the abuse of illegally manufactured drugs” (Why Do people Do Drugs) because home made drugs have not been tested and proven to work for what ever the issue may be. The prescription medication gets years of testing to make sure it works, and some times it works to good. If you take the prescription medication when it is not prescribed to you, you are in more danger than taking street drugs.

So many people wake up in the morning and think about their next high, and no one knows how they got to that point. Most people use drugs that were once prescribed to them for an injury or illness then could never get off of them. Some people are just peer pressured into doing drugs, by there friends. A lot of people feel they need the drugs to be able to live a happy life when in reality they don’t. Kids do it to fit in, as an escape from life, to seem grown up or just to see what it is like to try a new drug (Why People do drugs). One drug has can have a different effect on a different person “a small amount acts as a stimulant (speeds you up). A greater amount acts as a sedative (slows you down). An even larger amount poisons and can kill”(Why do people do drugs). People don’t understand that even if its your first time trying a drug it can kill you,  “Drugs block off all sensations, the desirable ones with the unwanted. So, while providing short-term help in the relief of pain, they also wipe out ability and alertness and muddy one’s thinking” (Why do people do drugs). After long term drug abuse, you cannot just stop using. For some it is more dangerous to stop using than to continue, the effects of withdrawal can kill you just as using the drug will. If you want to stop, weening down along with treatment is the only way to do it safely.

Advertising for drugs makes people want them. Who would not want to get drugs for all their problems? If they didn’t see them on television or hear about them on the radio would they even think they really had a problem? Almost all Advertising  “provokes a subtle shift in our culture — toward seeking a pill for every ill. While there are many for whom stimulants and other medications can be a godsend, the case of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a prime example of how, too often, a pill substitutes for more human responses to distress”(Stange). Doctors don’t care, most just want to make money. They would rather write the prescription then lose a patient, which leads to losing money.  People see the advertising and then start to believe they have that problem. The pharmaceutical drug companies believe that “If the industry can convince essentially normal people that minor complaints require long-term drug treatment, its market will grow”(Angell). This will continue to happen until advertisement for prescription drugs get banned.

Angell, Marcia. “Should Prescription Drug Ads Be Reined In?”  New York Times Room for Debate Should Prescription Drug Ads Be Reined In Comments. N.p., 4 Aug. 2009. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

 Jogalekar, Ashutosh. “Why Drugs Are Expensive: It’s the Science, Stupid.” Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., 4 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

“HBO Addiction Project.” National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). N.p., Mar. 2007. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

Ogbru, Omudhome, Pharm. D. “Drugs: Why Drugs Cost So Much – Medications: Prescription Drugs and Over the Counter Drugs on MedicineNet.com.” MedicineNet. Ed. Jay Marks, M. D. N.p., 9 Feb. 2002. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

Stange, Kurt C. “Consumer Drug Advertising Should Be Banned.” New York Times. N.p., 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

Simpson, Stephen D., CFA. “It’s No Accident That Drugs Are Expensive.” Investopedia. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

Persistence comes from many places. It can be learned as we age, or we can just be born persistent. I feel that as we age our persistence changes. When we are little we are persistent about certain things like riding a bike, but as we get older our attitude changes. To become more persistent in the work place to get a better position or in school to get better grades or to finally get a degree in some thing.You have to be persistent in anything and everything to get what you want. Some things come easy and don’t but whether or not something is easy you have to work your hardest to get the best outcome.  I think that persistence come from us humans striving to be perfect. Trying to have everything we want no matter what it is, or how hard it is going to be.

To become persistent you first have to  “List down all your desires and wants, no matter how impossible they are to achieve in the moment”(Macabasco) because “Before you can develop persistence and eventually achieve success, you need to first identify your wants or desires” (Macabasco). This shows that any one can be persistent. You just have to plan things out, do what you say you want to do. If you never attempt it you will never know if you could have done it your self. Once you figure out what it is you want to do tell everyone. No one wants to see you fail, well I am sure some do but who cares what they have to say. There will be tons of people looking to help you in any way they can.

Any one can be persistent you but you need to take intuitive. Any one can do anything no matter how hard something may be “I’m starting to think it’s not even worth all of this work” (Pinto). Sound familiar? I say it all the time but when you take the time to actually figure it out, to really do something the right way it is so worth it. Most thing are hard when they are new and can still be hard once you know what you are doing; but “If you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, it gives you more energy to keep moving” (Macabasco). Its hard to get used to things, it happens to every body. No one is good at everything when they just start.” Every little bolt on this car tried my patience and continuously had me cursing at my car as if it were an actual person” is what Pinto said when he was trying to fix his car. After he had done it many times before, it was still hard for him to do. he also says “All those hours spent banging my knuckles against metal as I tried to loosen a bolt in a tricky spot and all those shirts that went in the garbage from being covered in grease all seemed worth it” (Pinto). This in itself goes to show how being persistent can make anything happen.

Persistence does not have have to be something that you physically work on either. Persistence can happen with feelings too like over coming a fear or phobia. Whether it be public speaking or spiders persistence can make you be able to do anything. Jason say he knew he had in issue with his anxiety when “I was unable to force myself to ask for help, and I quickly fell behind” (Davis). He knew he had to take action and when he got to college “Group work in classes forced me to face my social anxiety head-on, and it caused more problems with performance in class than it helped me open up” (Davis). He has taken the steps to know what he wants and know how to get it. Its hard for him as it is for many other people but he has been persistent and is constantly working at it. He now pushes himself  “to talk to others more when I can, just to make it easier to talk when necessary” (Davis)

So just to recap here. You can do anything! You just need to have the persistence to do it. No matter what it is or how how much you think you cant do it, you can. From fixing your car to over coming fears. Just do something completely new, how are you to know if you’re good at it or not if you never try? We strive to be perfect, and that’s impossible but we can accomplish all of our wants and needs and dreams if we just try and do whatever it takes to get there. “There will be countless times you will be faced with defeat and failures that if you are weak, you’ll be succumbing to negative thoughts of fears and doubts” (Macabasco), but don’t, if you do not continue to try you will never succeed. Failure is how you get success, if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Davis, Jason. “College Writing.” College Writing. N.p., 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Macabasco, Lou. “6 Effective Ways to Become Persistent.” Lifehack RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Pinto, Dillon. “English 101 » Grease Monkey 101: Making Money – Revised.” English 101 » Grease Monkey 101: Making Money       Revised. N.p., 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

We all worked very hard on this. It was difficult from the beginning because none of us were very computer literate.  Trying to get the pictures together and in the right order to getting the song up. The hardest part was trying to post it to our blogs. We decided on doing our video on getting over a break up because we couldn’t decide on one of our own topics. We focused on how boys and girls do somethings differently and some of the things we do when we are upset are the same. We used images from the movie “The Vow” in the movie they fight and break up, which is what our video shows. What we are trying to show is that no matter how hard a break up is you will get through it and you will over come it. Your friends have a big part of making someone feel better and we also showed that in the video. your friends need to pick you up and get you back in the swing of things to make you feel better. At the end of our video we show the two people with new significant others and how they are happy again.

Every one has that one thing that was hard at the beginning but got easier over time right? When I was little I loved running around and playing sports. I was outside every chance I got, taking my dogs on walks around the neighbor hood or playing in the back yard with my brother and sister. That all changed when I was nine years old. What I loved to do was taken from me. The doctors said I would be lucky if I could ever walk again.

A snowy day, February 23, 2005 was the start of a new beginning. It had just stopped snowing, a break in the action as I was heading to my best friends birthday party. We were all in the car Mom, Dad, Judd, Madd’s and I. The car in front of ours stopped short so my dad hit the brakes, and we slid across the yellow lines right into on coming traffic. That was it, I though my life was over along with every one else around me. Once I finally came to, back to consciousness, I realized I was very wrong. It was a screaming silence, and a blinding darkness, like things were in slow motion. I did not know what just happened, when i figured it out, I also figured out I was stuck.. With every one running around who would hear me yelling? My dad had to pull the whole driver seat out of the car for me to be able to get, but that was the least of my worries. When I was finally out of the car I fell to the ground I couldn’t walk. I was carried to the ambulance and taken to the closest hospital for them to send me home with a fractured knee cap, and the other one twisted.

A week later I was wheel chaired in to an orthopedic for them to tell me it would be a miracle for me to walk again because of all the damage I have sustained to my joints. I was horrified, no more running around like a normal kid no more playing sports no more anything. Moving either of my legs I was in serious pain. I didn’t know what I was going to do, there was no way this could have happened not me, but it did.

I started with a cast that I could put on and take off depending on how I was feeling that day, that was a chore in itself. I had to do all these little things, bending my knee and straightening it out; my dad would have to help me and force me to do it because of how bad it hurt. The doctor had me stretching out my legs, forcing them straight. I had to put weights on my ankles starting at one pound working up to five pounds to strengthening the muscles in my legs back up from not being in use. I had to sit on the couch for hours at a time watching t.v. rotating between ice and heat for comfort. I would wait for my brother to get home from school so I had someone to play with. When I wasn’t on the couch I had to just sit in my wheel chair. I had nothing to do, My dad would try to play games and get me to go back out side. I wouldn’t what was the point of going out side if I couldn’t run around and have fun?  After the first 6 months in physical therapy I was able to put some of my weight on my legs. I had to stand with a walkers or crutches, and always had someone right in front of me in case i started to fall. While I was standing I would have to bend my knees like I did sitting down before, that was no easy task. Words cannot even begin to explain what it felt like. Three months after that I was able to hobble around with the walkers and crutches and I amazed my doctors.

I was determined that I was going to walk again nothing was going to stop me. No matter how bad it hurt or how bad I wanted to stop i didn’t. I had to go on in pain, with the crutches till I was confident in my self to walk with out them. a few times I thought I was able to but I was mistaken, I fell and I cried, but I got back up. Three more months went by, I was using the crutches full time and my knees were feeling a lot better. I was able to return to school, and it was nice to get out of the house. One day I was at my physical therapist and the doctor had me stand up with one of my crutches and had me stumble around for over an hour. I was so nervous I was going to fall but he walked with me, and made sure I wasn’t going to. At the next visit he had me do the same thing, this lasted over a month. After that month was up he had me stand up with out my crutches. he stood in front of me with his arms out to catch me if I fell, which I didn’t do, I did stumble and trip a little but I did not hit the ground. Then all of a sudden he let go, I was taking my first steps all over again. I couldn’t believe it and neither could he. He yelled for my parents and they came running thinking i had fallen again, and to there amazement I was walking. I was able to walk over to them, I had to sit right away but I was still walking.

Till this day I think about how lucky I am that I am up and walking around. Due to this injury my growth plates were damaged in my left leg making my legs to be two different lengths and causing me have problems in my hips. Especially when everyone including myself thought it was never going to happen again. I still have an occasional issue with my knees, when its cold out or raining I am in pain  and I am still in physical therapy. No matter how hard it is I continue to get better.

Every one has that one thing that was hard at the beginning but got easier over time right? Practice  makes perfect i was always told. When i was little i loved running around and playing sports. that all changed when i was nine years old, what i loved to do was taken from me. The doctors said i would be lucky if i could ever walk again.

A snowy day, February 23, 2005 was the start of a new beginning. It had just stopped snowing, a break in the action as i was heading to my best friends birthday party. we were all in the car Mom, Dad, Judd, Madd’s and I. the car in front of ours stopped short so my dad hit the brakes, and we slid across the yellow lines right into on coming traffic. That was it, i though my life was over along with every one else around me. once i finally came to, back to consciousness, i realized i  was very wrong. it was a screaming silence, and a blinding darkness, like things were in slow motion, i did not know what just happened, when i figured out, i also figured out i was stuck.. with every one running around who would hear me yelling? My dad had to pull the whole driver seat out of the car for me to be able to get, but that was the least of my worries. when i was finally out of the car i fell to the ground i couldn’t walk. i was carried to the ambulance and taken to the closest hospital for them to send me home with a fractured knee cap, and the other one twisted.

a week later i was wheel chaired in to an orthopedic for them to tell me it would be a miracle for me to walk again because of all the damage i have sustained to my joints. i was horrified, no more running around like a normal kid no more playing sports no more anything. Moving either of my legs i was in serious pain. I didn’t know what i was going to, there was no way this could have happened not me, but it did.

I started with a cast that i could put on and take off depending on how i was feeling that day, that was a chore in itself. I had to do all these little things, bending my knee and straightening it out; my dad would have to help me and force me to do it because of how bad it hurt. After the first 6 months in physical therapy i was able to put some of my weight on my legs, i had to stand with walkers and crutches. while i was standing i would have to bend my knees like i did sitting down before. three months after that i was able to hobble around with the walkers and crutches and i amazed my doctors.

I was determined that i was going to walk again nothing was going to stop me. No matter how bad it hurt or how bad i wanted to stop i didn’t. i had to go on in pain, with the crutches till i was confident in my self to walk with out them. a few times i thought i was able to but i was mistaken, i fell and i cried, but i got back up. three more months went by, i was using the crutches full time and my knees were feeling a lot better. One day i was at my physical therapist and he had me stand up with my crutches and took one of them from me ad had me stumble around for over an hour with just one crutch. i was so nervous i was going to fall but he walked with me, and made sure i wasn’t going to. at the next visit he had me do the same thing, this lasted over a month. After that month was up he had me stand up with out my crutches. he stood in front of me with his arms out to catch me if i fell, which i didn’t do, i did stumble and trip a little but i did not hit the ground. Then all of a sudden he let go, i was taking my first steps all over again. I couldn’t believe it and neither could he. He yelled for my parents and they came running thinking i had fallen again, and to there amazement i was walking. I was able to walk right over to them, i had to sit right away but i was still walking.

till this day i think about how lucky i am that i am up and walking around. Especially when everyone including myself thought it was never going to happen again. I still have an occasional issue with my knees, when its cold out or raining i am in pain  and i am still in physical therapy. No matter how hard it is i continue to get better.

Curiosity-

• how is college going to be?
• Am I going to like my classes or teachers?
• How long is it going to take for me to get where I want to be?
• Will I ever be where I want to be?

Creativity-

•  I love to cook so figuring out a way to make the same foods differently. (My sister is very picky)
• Figuring out a way to balance family, school and work.
• Science, Zoology.

Persistence-

• Going to school.
• Getting a new job.
• Getting healthier.

I am not the best writer I always have a hard time getting my thoughts into words then down on paper in a way for someone else to understand. My first draft is always a mess, just things I think that should be in the piece; most of the time they do not belong. Once I get my thoughts in order I like to write it all down with black ink or pencil on white paper. I hate blue ink I feel it blends in with the lines on the piece paper, even though that sounds crazy. I believe I am not such a good writer because I do not like to read. Reading has never been a strong point for me, if I do not know what a word means ill just skip it. Not asking in fear of looking dumb. With technology the way it is now I have everything at my finger tips so reading has become easier and I plan on reading more this semester. My vocabulary is only common words used in everyday conversation, which is another reason why I do not like to write. During this semester another thing I would like to do is become more confident in my writing. seeing as the whole class will be reading what I write I guess I have to be. As for the screen vs paper issue, I like paper for the beginning then gradually move to the screen. I like to have the screen available so I can check my spelling and maybe to switch out a few words that sound better.  Also I like to have the screen because it makes my work look neat. Especially next  to my chicken scratch had writing.